The federal government is still sitting on 64 million expired pieces of personal protective equipment purchased during the COVID-19 pandemic — at a cost of more than $150 million, according to a newly released parliamentary response.

The disclosure came in an answer to an Order Paper Question from Conservative MP Dave Epp (Chatham-Kent—Leamington), tabled in the House of Commons on January 26.

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The Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed the expired stock includes:

• 30.1 million gloves
• 19 million surgical masks
• 8.6 million gowns
• 3.8 million shoe covers
• 2.4 million face shields
• 98,000 N95 respirators

All of the expired PPE was originally bought between 2020 and 2022 at a total cost of approximately $150.7 million.

Ottawa is also spending millions to store this unusable equipment. Since 2022, the federal government has paid over $20 million in storage costs for PPE destined for recycling or disposal.

The largest share went to private contractor Metro Supply Chain, which received:

• $3.7 million in 2022
• $7.65 million in 2023
• $4.1 million in 2024
• $3.98 million in 2025

The government confirmed that most of the expired PPE is stored in warehouses in Ontario and Alberta.

The response also revealed which companies received contracts under the government’s failed 2019-20 standing offer for PPE, including Bio Nuclear Diagnostics, Cardinal Health Canada, Ferno Canada, and Medline Canada, with contract values ranging from tens of thousands to over $700,000.

While Ottawa insists it “actively divests” surplus equipment, it admits once PPE expires it has “no remaining value” and must be recycled or destroyed.